Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co Ltd is a unit of one of China’s largest conglomerates Fosun International. Already listed in Shanghai, the group plans to raise about US$512 million through an initial public offering in November 2012, and said it would use about half the proceeds for domestic and international acquisitions, and the rest for research and development and to pay down debt.

When three graduates from Shanghai's prestigious Fudan University set up a small venture about two decades ago, they probably never expected the company would become an icon of the mainland's fast-growing private businesses sector.

Shares of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, a generic drug maker, closed 8 per cent below the initial public offer price on the first day of trading, as investors shunned the company's aggressive growth strategy.

Last week, I wrote about the delay in the launch of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical's equity offering in Hong Kong. As expected at the time, book building finally started on October 16 for what is an accelerated timetable (owing to the upcoming bank holiday) that will now see pricing on October 24, and listing and start of trading on October 30.

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical last week pushed back the launch of its US$600 million initial public offering from October 11 to, most likely, today - possibly putting it on track for an accelerated marketing. (See "Take your guess for Fosun Pharma pricing", Money Post, April 30).